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Mullally: she was once condemned as a ‘vile sinner’ for being a female priestYUI MOK

In the baroque splendour of St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday the Church of England installed Dame Sarah Mullally, a feminist and reformer, as the first female Bishop of London.

For many in the established church it was a welcome distraction from divisions over gay marriage, which have left the institution at odds with much of society. But Mullally, 56, has revealed that she has faced vituperation from fellow worshippers opposed to women serving as priests, even though the first was ordained in 1994, or as bishops, approved in 2014.

She opened her sermon by saying that exactly 105 years ago suffragettes tried to detonate a bomb under the seat in which she had just been enthroned. “Let me reassure you I do not come carrying bombs —…